Colorado Avalanche / NHL

Avs' Smyth revisits N.Y. home

The Avs' Ryan Smyth, right, hopes to put recent losses to the Devils and Rangers in the background tonight against one of his former teams, the Islanders.
(Jim McIsaac, Getty Images
)

SYOSSET, N.Y. — It's the sort of town on the Long Island Railroad line where you step off the train, order coffee and doughnuts at the Dunkin' Donuts, ask where the ice rink is, get a quizzical look from the kid behind the counter, then get quick directions from the woman behind you.

Besides, it's only about a quarter-mile down the road, adjacent to the tracks, and if you have been looking out the correct side of the train, you would have spotted it.

The Iceworks in Syosset, a hangar-style rink, is where Avalanche winger Ryan Smyth practiced with the New York Islanders during his brief stint with the franchise after his controversial exit from Edmonton at the 2007 trading deadline.

He played 18 games down the stretch and five playoff games for the Islanders before ultimately declining to re-sign with them and instead signed a five-year, $31.25 million deal with Colorado.

On Sunday, the Avalanche worked out at the Islanders' practice rink on the eve of their meeting with New York at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale.

"You see the banners and the history the Islanders have had," Smyth said, gesturing at the huge pictures of Islanders past and present and the Stanley Cup flags hanging from the rafters. "There's just something special with what went on."

Smyth's move to the Islanders was wrenching for him, considering his controversial parting with the Oilers in his home province and the tears he unashamedly shed at an airport session with reporters on his way out of town.

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But he made the best of it.

"It was an emotional time," he said. "I didn't think a trade would ever happen out of Ed-monton, but it did. The Islanders welcomed me with open arms, treated me with a great deal of respect. I have nothing but great things to say about that organization.

"We made the playoffs, we got beat out in the first round, but the ownership — Mr. (Charles) Wang — was nice, and was nice about having me and we sat down and chatted for a while. Garth Snow was fresh at being a general manager in the league and he treated not only me but the whole team really well."

Smyth said he did feel a twinge of regret for not re-signing with the Islanders "because they gave up quite a bit to have me. I think overall, it was tough for me to make a quick decision about something that involved not just me, but my whole family. They made offers right up to July 1, and they were right in the mix, too, when we finally made our decision to come to Colorado. I have a great deal of respect for how they treated me in those two months."

Smyth lived in a Long Island hotel with his wife, Stacey, and their two young daughters.

"We could take the train in to Manhattan, and we saw some Broadway plays with the kids, and that was kind of special," he said.

Two years later, another trading deadline is approaching — it's on Wednesday — and Smyth's name has been tossed out amid indications general manager Francois Giguere at least got the word out that he would at least listen to offers for Smyth. But Smyth has a no-trade clause in his contract, and Sunday he again said neither he not his agent, Don Meehan, had been asked about waiving it.

"It's just rumors," Smyth said. "That's what happens this time of year. I've been fortunate enough to have that no-move clause in place, so right now it's all speculation."

He said he would be "surprised" if Giguere eventually asks him to waive the no-trade clause.

"You want to be a part of winning and right now, this isn't winning," he said. "There's winning and there's misery, and right now, this is misery. We have to find ways, right now, to turn things around."

So it seems likely Smyth will be with Colorado after the trading deadline, and that tonight's meeting with the Islanders in the matchup of the two conferences' last-place teams won't be his last in an Avalanche sweater.

Avalanche notes: Andrew Raycroft will get the start in the net. That's not much of a shock considering Peter Budaj was yanked after surrendering three goals on nine shots against the Rangers on Saturday night. . . . Adam Foote, Milan Hejduk and Darcy Tucker were at the rink but didn't practice Sunday on Long Island, but coach Tony Granato said they simply were given "maintenance" days. . . . The Avs have lost four straight and are 1-4 on the road trip that concludes tonight.

Islanders notes: Bill Guerin, the Isles' captain, almost certainly won't play against the Avalanche after being held out of a 2-0 win over Buffalo on Saturday as general manager Garth Snow prepared to close a trade. Guerin can be an unrestricted free agent July 1 and he has a no-trade clause, but he won't be turning down a deal that would send him to a Cup contender. . . . Sean Bergenheim had both goals for the Islanders against Buffalo. . . . This matchup of the last-place teams in the conferences is being televised nationally by Versus. Supply your own punch line.

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